This article explores early childhood teachers' and leaders' early responses to the release of the revised early childhood curriculum, "Te Whariki" (Ministry of Education, 2017), with a particular focus on teaching and assessment of literacy. The study involved a convergent mixed-method design. Data were collected via a cross-sectional…

This research parallels Tongan academic Hufanga 'Okusitino Mahina's assertions in the 1994 Contemporary Pacific article Our Sea of Islands, that 'People are thought to walk forward into the past and walk backward into the future, both taking place in the present, where the past and the future are constantly mediated in the ever-transforming…

"Washday at the Pa" ('pa' is used colloquially by Pakeha to refer to a Maori settlement) is the title of an old schoolbook, a picture reading book for younger schoolchildren, which was produced in 1964 by the state education system in Aotearoa-New Zealand in 1964, written and photographed by Ans Westra, who later became one of the most…

As higher education institutions seek to provide further scope for diversity in their practices, there is space opening up for Indigenous undergraduate research. This article reflects on the Knowledge Makers program, an Indigenous undergraduate research initiative based in British Columbia, Canada. The Knowledge Makers program shows what is…

This paper argues that the idea that tertiary education in New Zealand is a public good has been inhibited by extreme policies that treat education as a commodity and the education sector as a market. Education is about producing highly skilled, knowledgeable and useful citizens and the notion of a 'profit' is in 'creating educated citizens' (TEU,…

Embracing and embedding the rich cultural knowledge, languages, concepts and skills that Aboriginal families and children bring to playgroup is key to empowering families as their children's first teachers and strengthening young children's self-esteem, pride, confidence and identities. In this article, we share our story of how we have explored…

How might mathematics educators recognize discourses as resonating harmonies in their practices as researchers? In this paper we share individual experiential narratives guided by Ojibway author Richard Wagamese's Medicine Wheel teachings in the four directions of East (humility), South (trust), West (introspection), and North (wisdom). As we…

Since the 1990s, scientists and Indigenous peoples have worked together across Inuit Nunangat (Inuit homeland in Canada) to conduct research on contaminants in ringed seals ("Pusa hispida"; "natsiq," "natchiq" or [foreign characters ommitted] in Inuktut), a species of high cultural, economic and nutritional importance…

Decolonization and Indigenization of k-12 schooling is pressing and important and must move forward within the significant challenges and unique circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper I share what I learned in partnership with school leaders about leading Indigenization in a global pandemic. Through findings from a design-based…

Standard Australian reading assessment tests are criticized for being culturally inappropriate for use with Australian Indigenous children, particularly for those living in remote and very remote regions, as these tests are culturally biased towards mainstream Australian culture and imperceptive to Indigenous knowledge, language, concepts, and…

This article takes a relational approach to Pacific leadership by presenting three layers of discussion. First, we provide findings from our research team members about the relationships between the Pacific community and school leaders' understandings of leadership. We include accounts of how leaders negotiate in context between forms of…

For more than 20 years, there has been effort made within primary and secondary classrooms and curricula to include Indigenous peoples' perspectives. This has been met with mixed reactions from classroom teachers. Initial teacher education academics and providers have also been slow to implement and transform their teaching and learning despite…

This study aims to investigate how the use of an "among"-based mentoring model can improve competencies in vocational education at an agricultural vocational school in Yogyakarta and the social impact that this has. Qualitative research methods were applied in this study, with data being collected through questionnaires, field…

It has long been established that education is both a colonial and imperial tool that enables colonizing nations to establish themselves in foreign territories. This paper explores New Zealand's historical and contemporary role in the Pacific and how the country has leveraged higher education to both strengthen and continue its ongoing colonial…

This paper attempts to explore the underpinning pedagogy in Tharu culture -- songs and dances of Dangaura Tharus- performed in various feast and festivals. Along with this, my study focused on examining the connections of the Tharus' pedagogies with that of the formal and non-formal schools. I employed interpretivism as a research paradigm and…